Abraham Lincoln and Edwin M. Stanton. Address delivered before Burnside post, no. 8, Department of the Potomac, G. A. R., April 25, 1889

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN

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EDWIN M. STANTON.

A D D R E S S

^Delivered before Ijumside Jjost, JHo. 8, \
DEPARTMENT OF THE POTOMAC, G. A. R.,
25, 1889,

COMRADE THOMAS M. VINCENT,

ASSISTANT ADJUTANT GENERAL, AND BRIGADIER GENERAL BY BREVET, u. S. A.

Published by Burns ide Post, No. 8, Department of the Potomac, G. A. R.,
Washington, Uf. C.

Copyright 1890.

Commander, Comrades, and Guests of Burnside Post :

Men are known by their works, and, therefore, in giving
some attention this evening to events connected with Abraham
Lincoln and Edwin M. Stanton, it will not be out of place to
refer to some of their great labors from 1861 to 1865.

George Bancroft, on a most memorable occasion, after refer
ring to the prediction of a West Jersey Quaker, 120 years
before, that the consequence of importing slaves would "be
grievous to posterity." and the language of Patrick Henry, in
1773, that a serious view of the subject "gives a gloomy pros
pect to future times," continued by quoting, in connection with
efforts for emancipation and abolition, words of despair from
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and others, and rocit^d how
the enslavement of the African resulted in a storm, adding:

"The storm rose to a whirlwind ; who should allay its wrath ?
The most experienced statesman of the country had failed ;
there was no hope from those who were great in the flesh ;
could relief come from one whose wisdom was like the wisdom
of little children ?

"The choice of America fell on a man born west of the Alle-
ghenies, in the cabin of poor people of Hardin County, Kentucky
— Abraham Lincoln."

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy he was soon
confronted with civil war, and recognized the aphorism :

"The sole object of a just war is to make the enemy feel the
evils of his injustice, and, by his sufferings, amend his ways ;
he must, therefore, be attacked in the most accessible quarter."

But in April, 1861, the Government of the United States
was, for the purpose of war, paralyzed. It had not, practically,
an army to maintain its authority, and was far from being able
to attack the "accessible quarter" of an internal enemy, in con
spiracy over an area of 733,144 square miles, connected with
a shore line of 25,144 miles ; a coast line of 3,523 miles, and an
interior boundary of 7,031 miles.

227182

Had the people of the United States, through Congress, been
more thoughtful concerning the object of, and necessity for, the
military arm, paralysis would have been avoided through the;
availability of a suitable force to crush the initial of the rebel
lion, and the State, in combat with its own children, would have
been spared a great sacrifice of human life — including that of
the Commander-in-Chief of the Army arid .Navy — aside from a
debt of §2,718,656,173.13 incident to and arising from the war.
All this independently of a pension debt, from 1861 to 1875, of
§279, 79 1, 465. 36, and since then largely increased. For the
coming fiscal year, alone, there will be an addition of $80,473,000.

Early in the struggle the question was not : What will it
cost? but, can the Government be saved, at any cost? The
patient was very ill ! Commendable and essential economy was
forced to disappear from the grasp of the people!

The life of the patient was saved, but the doctor's bill has not
yet been paid ! Nor can that bill be paid in dollars to the
armies of the United States, represented now throughout the
broad expanse of the land by the Grand Army of the Kepublic.
Pensions have been and will be granted members of our char
itable, fraternal and loyal organization, and to others, inclusive
of the widow, outside of it; but however large the generosity
of the people may make the amounts, the compensation will not
be adequate to meet the services and attendant sufferings of the
soldiers who have made it possible, in the government of
65,000,000 of people, for a President to hold his office and a
Congress to enact the necessary laws,

Powerless, however, as the Government then was to over
come the gigantic attack on its life, there was, fortunately, a
grand latent power, awaiting for its development only the
demand of the national heart, ond the regular army to educate
it and prepare it for service. After about seven months of
preparation that power was manifested under an organization
numbering 640,637 officers and enlisted men — the volunteer
army of the United States, with its elements of patriotism,
wisdom, courage and moderation.

During its organization Simon Cameron was at the head ot
the Department of War, and it cannot be denied that he
achieved grand and valuable results at a time when his depart
ment had to encounter great embarrassments. He has said :
"How difficult it was to fill the position of Secretary of War
none but myself can ever know. * * It was a terrible time."

The difficulty was to restrain the volunteers from exceeding
the actual force required ; and while men were tendered so
generously, we were unprepared for the brewing conflict and
absolutely without the essentials to engage in war — without
guns, powder, saltpetre, bullets and other needed stores.

In the recruitment of that powerful force, and its subsequent
great increase, the people made great sacrifices. ' The Presi
dent was led along by the greatness of their self- sacrificing
example, and as a child, in a dark night on a rugged way,
catches hold of the hand of its father for guidance and support,
he clung fast to the hand of the people and moved calmly
through the gloom."

MOBILIZATION.

In connection with the mobilization, it must be remembered
that January 1st, 1861, the authorized army of the United
States consisted of two regiments of dragoons, two regiments of
cavalry, one regiment of mounted riflemen, four regiments of
artillery, and ten regiments of infantry — aggregating, present
and absent, 16,402 commissioned officers and enlisted men,
inclusive of the general officers and general staff.

April 15th of that year it was officially promulgated by the
President that revolutionary combinations existed in certain
States, and 75,000 militia, for three months' service, were called
to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly
executed. In addition, all loyal citizens were appealed to, that
they might favor, facilitate, and aid the effort to maintain the
honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union,
and the perpetuity of our popular government, and to redress
wrongs already long enough endured. The President deemed

it proper to add that the first service of the forces would,
probably, be to repossess the forts, places and property which
had been seized from the Union, and directed that in every
event; consistently with the objects he had referred to, care
should be taken to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or
interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful cit
izens in any part of the country.

When the President took this first decided action agaiustthe
rebellion, the danger threatening the seat of government will
be indicated by the following :

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

WASHINGTON, April 26, 1861.
GENERAL ORDERS, )
No. 4. j

I. From the known assemblage near this city of numerous
hostile bodies of trooDS, it is evident that an attack upon it may
soon be expected. In such an event, to meet and repel the
enemy, it is necessary that some plan of harmonious co-operation
should be adopted on the part of all the forces, regular or vol
unteer, present for the defense of the Capital — that is, for the
defense of the Government, the peaceful inhabitants of the city,
their property, the public buildings and public archives

II. At the first moment of an attack every regiment, bat
talion, squadron and independent company will promptly assem
ble at its established rendezvous, (in or out of the public build
ings,) ready for battle, and wait for orders.

III. The piquets (or advanced guards) will stand fast till
driven in by overwhelming forces ; but it is expected that those
stationed to defend bridges — having every advantage of position
—will not give way till actually pushed by the bayonet. Such
obstinacy on the part of piquets so stationed is absolutely
necessary to give time for the troops in the rear {o assemble at
their places of rendezvous.

IV. All advance guards and piquets driven in will fall back
slowly to delay the advance of the enemy as much as possible,
before repairing to their proper rendezvous.

V. On the happening of an attack, the troops lodged in the
public buildings and in the Navy Yard will remain for their
defense, respectively, unless specially ordered elsewhere, with
the exceptions that the 7th New York regiment and the Mas-

Sactmsetts regiment will march rapidly towards the President's
Square for its defense ; and the Ehode Island regiment (in the
Department of the Interior) when full, will make a diversion,
by detachment, to assist in the defense of the General Post
Office building, if necessary.

WINFIELD SCOTT.

May 3d the President deemed it indispensably necessary to
further augment the forces by 42,034 three-year volunteers)
(39 regiments of infantry, and 1 of cavalry,) and 22,714 officers
and enlisted men, regulars, (8 regiments of infantry, 1 of cav
alry, and 1 of artillery,) thus making the forces, exclusive of
the Navy, authorized for the protection of the National Consti
tution and the preservation of the .National Union by the sup
pression of the insurrectionary combinations then existing, as
follows :

Eegular army, (January 1, 1861,) 16,402

Militia, (April 15, 1861.,) .... 75,000

Regulars and volunteers, (May 3, 1861,) . 64,748

Total, . 156,150

The call ior militia was more than met ; 91,816 men were
furnished, and the call for 40 regiments of volunteers was
exceeded — 71 regiments of infantry, 1 of heavy artillery, and
10 batteries of light artillery, were accepted and mustered into
service before July 1st.

In July the magnitude of the unlawful violence had fully
dawned, and it was clearly apparent that the measures author
ized for the impartial enforcement of constitutional laws, and
for the speedy restoration of peace and order, had failed. Con
gress assembled and authorized the President to accept 500,000
volunteers, for three years or the war. Subsequently extended
latitude, as to the acceptance, was conferred in that "previous
proclamation" was done away with, and the volunteers were
authorized to be accepted in such numbers, from any State or
States, as in his (the President's) discretion the public service
might require.

6

January 15, 1862, Edwin M. Stan ton became Secretary of
War, and through his stimulus the recruitment was so energet
ically pressed by the people that, April 3d, 1862, the forces
were deemed sufficient to overcome the rebellion. At this
time, had any one said it would require 2,678,697 enlistments,
from first to last, and an increase of the volunteer forces, in
service at one time, to 1,034,064, in order that armed resistance
to the Government might be overthrown, the assertion would
have been considered as marking insanity. It will be recalled
that early in 1861, an officer, with fame now world-wide, urged
the calling out of 300,000 men, and more than one person
alleged him to be under a visitation ot insanity — a subject fit
'for the institution having for its object "the most humane care
and enlightened curative treatment of the insane of the army."
And when Simon Cameron advised that 500,000 men should
be raised, the people laughed and thought he was mad.

June 28th the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Ver
mont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana,
Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin — also the President of
the Military Board of Kentucky — requested the President to
call upon the several States for such number of men as might
be required to fill up all organizations in the field, and to add
to the armies then organized. The request was based on a
desire that the recent successes of the Federal Armies might be
followed by measures which would secure the speedy restoration
of the Union, and the belief, in view of the important military
movements then in progress, that the time had arrived for
prompt and vigorous measures, thus to speedily crush the
rebellion. The decisive moment seemed near at hand, and the
people were desirous to aid, promptly, in furnishing all needful
reinforcements to sustain the Government.

The President concurred in the wisdom of the views expressed
in the request, and, July 2d, called for 300,000 men for three
years. This call for volunteers was, August 4th, supplemented

by one through a draft for 300,000 militia, for nine months'
service.

January 1, 1863, the volunteer forces numbered 892,728 ;
January 1, 1864, that number had been reduced to 836,101 ;
but on January 1, 1865, it had been increased to 937,441, and
on May 1 to 1,034,064.

February 24, 1864, by act of Congress approved that date,
the President was authorized, whenever he deemed it necessary
during the war, to call for such number of men for the military
service of the United States as the public exigencies might
require. It established the will of the President as the
authority for raising troops, and conferred a delicate and.
mighty power. That expressed confidence in the President was
a sound rebuke to those who, not much more than one year
before, had in contemplation to impeach and remove him from
office.

From first to last 2,678,967 men were furnished, and organ
ized into 1,668 regiments, 21 battalions and 504 independent
companies of infantry ; 232 regiments, 9 battalions and 122
independent companies of cavalry ; and 52 regiments, 6 battal
ions and 274 companies of artillery.

The constant addition to the forces, of new regiments, proved
a great element of weakness to the armies. As a great evil, it
may here be referred to.

Under every call, the first act of Governors of States was to ask
for authority to raise new regiments. The desire of the War
Department was to secure recruits for old regiments, and thus
maintain their organizations. The Secretary of War, in order
to a determined stand, secured in December, 1864, the views of
the General-in-Chief and army commanders. All were in
support of the opinion of the Secretary relative to the necessity
of recruits for old regiments, but the pressure of the States
caused all, as on former occasions, to yield, and 56 new regi
ments and 129 new independent companies, under the call of
December 18, 1864, were added to the list of organizations in
service, in addition to 77 new regiments and 98 companies under

the call of July 18, 1864. All this at a time when the Army
of the Potomac, alone, required 80,000 recruits to fill its organ
izations to the maximum — some 400,000 would have been
necessary for all the armies — and when experienced 'and gallant
Lieutenant-Colonels and other regimental officers, bearing the
wounds of many battles, could not receive promotion owing to
the depleted state of their commands. The subject was point
edly referred to by the commander of one of the armies as
follows :

''The raising of new regiments is a means desired to fill the
quota and avoid the draft.

"There is no intention, I suppose, that these new regiments
should serve the United States, and their Colonels will hardly
come into contact with the army. Still, if it be the intention
to put these new regiments into the field, where their Colonels
would have command of older and better regimental com
manders, it is a question for the War Department to determine,
and not mine. I must take troops as they come to me, and
respect the commissions they hold."

There is a record of the increase, on one occasion, of the Army
of France from 200,000 to 400,000 in two months' time, and
had it been thought proper to inaugurate a vast system of
defense, the number, it has been said, could have been raised
to 700,000 in four months — this under the influence of extra-
ordinany expedients ; and the exertion was considered an evidence
of the great energy and genius of Napoleon, as well as the
military spirit of the French Nation.

Marvellous results have been achived by the United States,
as exemplified by what has been recorded in the foregoing, in
connection with the following summary :

In 2J montns in 1861 we find an average of almost 100,000
men per month placed in service; and during 5 months the
average was 94,061 — this without the aid of extraordinary
expedients and in the face of great difficulties in army clothing
and equipping.

At this early period of the war the difficulties, in arming,
clothing and equipping, were so great that the' services of thou-

sands were declined. Could arms, clothing, and equipage have
been secured, it is safe to say that 1,000,000 of men could havo
been placed in service within 5 months.

Lincoln's adopted State, Illinois, under the calls of July 2d
and August 4th, 1862, placed in service 58,689 men. Of that
number over 50,000 — from the farmers and .mechanics of the
State — were furnished within eleven days.

"Animated by a common purpose, and firmly resolved on
rescuing the Government (they) left their harvests

uugathered, their tools on their benches, the plows m the
furrows;" thus making a proud record, without a parallel in
the history of the war. *

Under the calls of July 2d and August 4th, 18625, there were,
prior to November 21st of that year, sent into the field :

289 regiments of infantry, for 3 years ;
58 regiments of infantry, for 9 months ;
34 batteries of artillery, for 3 years ;
42 companies of cavalry, for 3 years ; and
36 companies of cavalry for 9 months.

Also 50,000 recruits for old three years' regiments — a grand
aggregate of 370;349 men; an average of about 82,211 per
month.

Under the proposition (accepted by the President April 23d,
1864,) of the Governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and
Wisconsin, to furnish 85,000 one-hundred-day troops, the Gov
ernor of Stan ton's native State, Ohio, in response to the War
Department call of May 1st, ordered the contribution of the
State to rendezvous in the various counties, at the most eligible
places, on the 2d day of May. Seven and one-half o'clock p. M.,
the same date, reports recited 38,000 men in camp. In twelve
days 36,254 men were organized into 41 regiments and 1 bat
talion, mustered, clothed, armed, equipped, and ready for
transportation to the field. On the 24th of May, 22 dayh from
the date of rendezvous, the 42 regiments embracing the force
were in active service.

Here it will be of interest to remember that from April 15,

10

1861, to April 28, 1865, a period of about 48 consecutive
months, there was supplied a monthly average, for the Union
and Confederate armies, of 75,000 men, a large army in itself.
Considering the increase in the population ol the United States
since the rebellion, a sound and instructive deduction can be
made relative to ihe pit-sent military power of our now united

country.

DISBANDMENT.

The orders for musters-out, issued on and subsequent to April
29, 1860, brought gladness to many hearts, and the gallant men
who had, after a vast sacrifice of life and health, caused peace
to dawn, were anxious to pass from the army to civil life, which
they did aso quietly that it was scarcely known save by the
welcome to their homes."

The soldiers and the people were tiivd of war. For with
truth IIMS it been said, that "in six hundred and twenty-five
battles and severe skirmishes blood flowed like water. It
streamed over the grassy plains; it stained the rocks; the under
growth of the forest was red with it; and the armies marched
on with majestic courage from one conflict to another, knowing
that they w^re fighting for GOD and Liberty."

The rapidity with which the work of disbandment was exe
cuted will be apparent from the fact that, to August -7th, 640,
806 troops had been mustered out; August 22d, 719,338;
September 14th, 741,107; October 15th, 785,205; November
15th, 800,963; January 20th, 1866, 918,733; February loth,
952,452; March 10th, 967,887; May 1st, 986;782; June 30th,
1,010,670; November 1st, 1,023,021— leaving then in service
11,043 volunteers, colored and white.

The command of Sherman (Army of the Tennessee and Army
of Georgia) ;md the Arrny of the Potomac were the first to
complete their musters-out, entirely. Regiments commenced
leaving Sherman's command, then numbering, present and
absent, 116,183 officers and men, from the rendezvous, near
Washington on the 29th of May, and on the 1st of August
the last one of the regiments mustered out left Louisville,

11

Kentucky, to which point the command (after the musters out
therefrom were partly completed) was transferred, and the ar
mies composing it merged into one, the Army of the Tennessee.
The work of mustering out the troops was not continuous — it was
interrupted and delayed by the transier of the two armies from
Washington to Louisville, and their subsequent consolidation.

liegiments commenced leaving the Army of the Potomac
(numbering, including the 9th Corps, 161,851 officers and men,
present and abs -nt) from the rendezvous near Washington on
the 29th of May, and about six weeks thereafter (July 19th)
the last regiment started tor home. During the interval, the
work, like that oi Sherman's command, was not continuous.
It was interrupted and delayed by the movement of the 6th
Corps from Danville, Virginia, to Washington, and the consol
idation, by orders of June 28th, of the remaining portion of the
army into a provisional corps, numbering present and absent,
22,699 officers and men.

Thus, for the two commands in question, and between the
29th of May and the 1st of August (two months) 279,034 offi
cers and men, present and absent, were mustered out and placed
en route to their homes.

Including the other armies and departments, the number was
increased by August 7th (two months and seven days) to 640.
806 officers and men.

Had it been possible to spare all the volunteers, the entire
number, 1,034,064 could easily have been disbanded and re
turned to their homes within three months from the date (May
29th, 1865,) the movement homeward commenced.

In Macauley's England, we find the following relative to the
disbandment of Cromwell's army:

"The troops were now to be disbanded. Fifty thousand men
accostomed to the profession of arms were at once thrown on
the world ; and experience seemed to warrant the belief that
this change would produce much misery and crime, that the
discharged veterans would be seen begging in every street, or
would be driven by hunger to pillage. But no such result fol-

12

tower!. In a few months there remained not a trace indicating
that the most formidable army in the world had just been ab
sorbed into the mass of the community. The royalists them
selves confessed that in every department of honest industry
the discharged warriors prospered beyond other men, and that
none was charged with any theft, or robbery, that none was
heard to ask an alms, and that, if a baker, a mason, or a
wagoner, attracted notice by his diligence and sobriety, he was
in all probability one of Oliver's old soldiers."

A greater eulogy was won by the magnificent volunteer army
of the United States, aggregating more than 1,000,000 men, a
force more than twenty times the size of that referred to by the
English historian.

When the time for disban'dment had arrived, Governors of
States and other distinguished men — all having deeply at heart
the good of the country — were apprehensive that so great a
force, suddenly released from military restraint and employment
would create disturbance throughout the country. The Sec
retary of War was requested to provide troops to maintain
order. He did not view the fears of others as well founded,
and made reply, in substance: that "if we could not trust the
soldiers who had subdued the rebellion, we might as well yield
the life of the republic. He acted in accordance with his views,
and beyond sending troops to take care of the depots
wherein was stored the public property, turned over by the
volunteers to the respective supply departments, precautions
against disturbance were not taken.

MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS LONG DISTANCES WITHIN SHOUT
PERIODS OF TIME.

1. The transfer in 1863, by rail, of the 12th Army Corps,
the command aggregating 23,000 men — accompanied by its
artillery, trains, animals and baggage— from the Rapid an, in
Virginia, to Stevenson in Alabama, a distance of 1,192 miles in
seven days, crossing the Ohio river twice.

2. The transfer of the 23d Army Corps, 15,000 strong, with
its artillery, trains, animals and baggage, from Clifton, Tennes-

13

See, via the Tennessee and Ohio rivers, and Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad, to the Potomac, in eleven days — distance 1,400
miles. This movement commenced January 15th, 1865, within
five days after the movement had been determined upon in
Washington. It was continued by water, to North Carolina,
where, early in February, Wilmington was captured. March
22d, when the right wing of Sherman's army reached Golds-
born, it found there the corps, which. a short time prior had
been encamped on the Tennessee.

The movement was much impeded by sovere weather —
rivers were blocked with ice, and railroads rendered hazardous
by frost and snow.

3. The transfer, by' water, of the 16th Army Corp?, from
Eastport, Tennessee to New Orleans. The entire command,
including a brigade of Artillery and a division of Cavalry, con
sisted of 17,314 men; 1,038 horses; 2, 731 mules; 351 wagons,
and 83 ambulances. Three days were required to embark it on
40 steamers. The fleet sailed on the 9th of February, 1865,
and the command arrived at New Orleans on the 23d — a
distance of 1,330 miles in 13 days.

4. The transfer, by sea, from City Point, Virginia, to Texas,
of the 25th Army Corps, 25,000 strong, with its artillery, am
munition, ambulances, wagons, harness, 'subsistence, and 2,000
horses and mules.

The embarkation took place between May 26th and June
17th, 1865 and the debarkation, at Brazos Santiago, between
June 13th and 26th. The movement required a fleet of 57
ocean steamers ; entire tonage — 56,987 tons. All of the vessels
were provided tor a 12 days voyage — 947 tons of coal and 50,
000 gallons of water were consumed daily.

While this expedition was afloat, other movements by sea, in
steam transports, aggregated more than 10,000 men, inclusive
of 3,000 Confederate prisoners pent from Point Lookout to
Mobile. Therefore there were more than 35,000 troops and
prisoners afloat on the ocean at the same time.

5. From November 1st, 1863, to October 31st, 1864— one

14

year — 626,126 men were forwarded to the field, and 268,114
were returned to their homes on furlough and for discharge ;
making the aggregate of the movements 887,240 — embracing
independently of recruits, 495 regiments and 119 batteries and
companies. The following year the aggregate was 1,064,080,
distributed to 1,126 regiments, 241 batteries and 369 companies.

SUPPLYING THE ARMIES.

The Army of Sherman — embracing 100,000 men and 60,000
animals was furnished with supplies from a ba :-e three hundred
and sixty (360) miles distant, by one single-track railroad,
located mainly in ihe country of an active enemy. The effort
taxed and measured forethought, energy, patience and watch -
fulness, and is a most instructive lesson. The line was main
tained for months, until Atlanta was secured, and supplies for a
new campaign had been placed there.

The army then moved southeast, through Georgia, accom
panied by thousands of beef cattle, and trains embracing 3.000
wagons filled with war supplies arid material.

After the capture of Savannah, the command was promptly
met at thrt place by a great fleet, conveying clothing, tentage,
subsistence for soldiers and animals, wagons, harness, ammu
nition, and all else necessary for the march or in camp.

The necessary supplies were again in readiness at Kinston
and Groldsboro, through the agency of railroads constructed to
those places from Wilmington and Morehead City — each of the
two roads being 95 miles in length.

While the foregoing was being accomplished, other large ar
mies in the east and west, were as promptly and energetically
supplied in all their wants.

During the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1865, the demands
for water transportation alone, required a fleet of 719 vessels,
(351, steamers, 111 steam tugs, 89 sail vessels, 168 barges.)

MILITARY RAILROADS.

The President, by the act of January 1st, 1862, (General
Order No. 10, Adjutant General's Office of that year,) was

15

authorized to take military possession of all the railroads in th^
United States; but it was not found necessary to exercise the
authority over any of the roads outside the limits of the insur
gent States.

"The military railroad organization, (under a Director and
General Manager — funds for its support being supplied by the
Quartermaster's Department,) was designed to be a great con
struction and transportation machine for carrying out the
objects of the commanding generals, so far as it was adapted to
the purpose, and it was managed solely with a view to efficacy
in that direction. It was the duty of the Quartermaster's
Department to lend ail the material upon the cars, to direct
where such material should be taken, and to whom delivered.
It then became the province of the railroad department to com
ply with said order in the shortest practicable time, and to
perfect such arrangements as would enable it to keep the lines
in repair under any and all circumstances."

Among the wonders connected with military railroad con
struction were :

The Chattahoochee bridge, seven hundred and eighty (780)
feet long and ninety-two (92) feet high, which was completely
built in 4J days by 600 men.

The Etow^ah bridge, six hundred and twenty-five (625) feet
long, seventy-five (75) feet high, was burned, and rebuilt by
the labor of six hundred (600) men of the construction corps in
six (6) days.

In October, 1864, Hood's army reached the rear of Sher
man's forces, first at Big Shanty, afterwards north of Kesaca,
destroying, in the aggregate, 35J- miles of track and 455 lineal
feet of bridges. 25 miles of track and 230 feet of bridges were
reconstructed and trains were run over the distance in 7J- days.
In 13 days after Hood left the line trains were running over
the entire length.

Numerous other wonderful efforts are of record, but the fore
going are sufficient to illustrate the speed with which the con
struction corps operated. Commanders had such confidence in
it that, in advancing, they were confident that the railroads in

16

their rear would not fail to meet the wants of their commands.
This confidence was most important in connection with lines of
operations lengthened in depth, and resulted from the knowledge
that "none of the humanly possible precautions for basing an
army had been neglected.

OTHER LOGISTICAL MEASURES — INDICATING THE SCIENCE OF

THE STAFF.

The Adjutant General's Department and the Bureau of the
Provost Marshal-General had to do with supplying men for the
armies ; the results, in part, involving the personnel, have been
made apparent fiom what has been recited. The former, in
addition, was charged, during the entire war, with the organi
zation and disbandment of the forces.

The recruitment of white volunteers was under the exclusive
control of the Adjutant General's Department from, the first
call for troops until May, 1863, when it was placed under the
Provost Marshal General, to whom, by law, was confided the
enrollment and draft, and thereby the entire recruiting service
for white troops was placed under one head, and a great reduc
tion made in the expenses of recruitment, through the more
rigid control secured by the enrollment act.

The Adjutant General's Department had charge of ihe
recruitment of colored troops, and the re-enlistment of the vet
eran volunteers in the field. The plan for the recruitment of
the 126,000 veterans, who received the thanks of Congress, was
devised and prepared by the Provost Marshal General, and
relative thereto Stanton has said: "I know of no operation
connected with the recruitment of the army which has resulted
in more advantage to the service than the one referred to."

The Departments of the Adjutant General and Provost Mar
shal General recruited, respectively, 1,515,264 and 1,120,621
men.

Involving the material, through the supply departments, we
find that during the whole war, there was no failure of opera
tions through lack of transportation or the supplies required of
the Quartermaster's Department. Its vast and varied stores

17

h;irl not only to be ready at numerous and widely extended
points, when needed, but it had to transport to all points, there
to be in readiness at the proper time, the extensive quantities
of prDvisions, medical and hospital stores, arms and ammunition
provided by the other supply departments.

The Army mule, for the purposes of the draft behaved nobly,
and bore the conscription without being able to express a desire
to furnish a substitute. On his roll oi honor we find 450,000
serving in the various armies. 650,000 horses joined the ranks ;
and the third year of the war the field armies require' 1 for the
cavalry, artillery and trains, one-half as mary animals as there
were soldiers.

As the mules and horses had, as a general thing, to labor
away from water and rail lines they gave but little attention to
the mechanical manoeuvres of 719 steam and sail vessels in
service at one time during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1865,
and the 419 engines and 6,330 cars employed during the war.

The soldier necessarily preferred the mail for his correspond
ence ; he did not confine himself to a single line, and, as a
result, the 1,000,000,000 telegrams trasmitted by the military
telegraph were mostly on official business.

Good and wholesome rations were uniformly supplied by the
subsistence department, and there was not a campaign, expe
dition or movement that failed on account of the inability of the
department to meet all proper requirements. It is true that,
generally, the bread was rather hard, yet, nevertheless, it was
tackled and freely consumed.

The Medical Department made ample provisions for the sick
•ind wounded from the first. Aside from the vast accommoda
tions elsewhere, Sherman's army found at Savannah four first-
class sea steamers, complete in all respects as hospital trans
ports, with extra supplies for 5,000 beds, had it been necessary
to establish large hospitals on his line of operations. Complaint
was never made as to a shortage of medicine ; generally it was
found that the supply exceeded any demand based on the
soldiers'" taste.

18

The Government had an abundance of money wherewith to-
nieet its sacred obligations, and the Pay Department kept its-
pledge "to make prompt payments in the shortest practicable
lime."

When the war commenced the Government was forced to
obtain from foreign countries almost the entire supply of arms
and ammunitions, but in 1863 the Ordnance Department
became independent through home resources, both for the
manufactured articles and the material composing them.

Aside from contributing to the command of armies, the offi
cers of the Corps of Engineers were charged with important
labors in connection with the dei'enses of Washington and other
places ; the reconnoisance of positions held by the enemy ; the
investment of cities and towns ; the fortilying of important
points on railroads ; the construction of offensive and defensive
fortifications necessary to the march of large armies ; the
manoeuvring of pontoon trains ; surveys for the armies in the
field, and the seacoast and lake dei'enses.

The ability and efficiency of its officers were notably illus
trated in the construction of the pontoon bridge (exclusive of
200 feet of trestle work) over 2,000 feet long — the main part
in deep water, in some places 85 feet — across the James Kiver
above Fort Powhatan, by 450 men in five hours, between 5 and
10 o'clock p. M., June 15, 1864. Over this single irail struc
ture passe; I — mainly in forty hours — the army, about 100,000
men under Grant, with cavalry, artillery and infantry, and
trains embracing about 5,000 wagons, besides 3,000 beef cattle,
without an accident to an individual man or animal. This
movement, one of the most important on record, took place
during the fifth epoch of the grand campaign, from the Rapidan
to the James, which ripened May 4th, 1864.

The passage, in all its attending circumstances, may well
stand forth brilliantly If it does not surpass, it will compare
favorably with the passage of the Danube, before Wagram, by
150,000 of Napoleon's forces, through the agency of three

19

bridges — in all 1,360 feet — thrown over an arm of that river
140 yards wide.

The Signal Service was particularly valuable in observing
and reporting the changes and movements of the enemy, and
connecting the army and navy when employed in combined oper
ations, thus enabling the two branches of the service to act as
a unit. Oftentimes the services were of vital importance by
furnishing information that could not hav* been had otherwise,
notably as referred to by Sherman, as follows :

"When the enemy had cut our wires and actually made
lodgement on our railroad about Big Shanty, the signal officers
on Vining's Hill, Kenesaw, and Altoona, sent my orders to Gen
eral Corse, at Rome, whereby General Corse was enabled to
reach Altoona just in time to defend it. Had it not been for the
services of this corps on that occasion, I am satisfied we should
have lost the garrison at Altoona, and a most valuable deposi
tory of provisions there, which was worth to us more than the
aggregate expense of the whole signal corps for one year. "

Again, the late Brigadier General Myer, as Chief Signal
Officer, has said :

"The officers of the Signal Corps opened the first direct com
munication from the Upper to the Lower Mississippi, when
Rear Admiral Farragut, running past the batteries of Port
Hudson, found himself, after the perilous passage, cut off above
that fortress from the vessels of his fleet which could not follow
him, and were lying in the stream below.

"There is not, perhaps, on record, a feat of aerial telegraphy
such as that thus and then performed, when from the topmast
of the flagship of the Admiral, lying above the fort, messages
were regularly transmitted past^the guns of the fortress to a
station on the mast-top of the war vessel Richmond, fi^e or six
miles below."

STANTON.

It has been said that Stanton dominated the President to the
extent of disregarding orders and. instructions. While he ever
readily considered Stanton's advice, I had frequent opportu
nities of observing that the President was the controlling power,
— the master as was his wont to say. I well remember an

20

order given atone time which the Secretary deemed based upon
misconception. I was instructed to take the case to the President
and invite his consideration to its prominent points. On reach
ing the Executive Mansion I found the President in the reception
room surrounded by a large number of persons. He immediately
recoi>;nized me, stepped forward and conducted me into the most
retired corner of the room. .4-fter I had stated the object of my
visit, he said : Stanton is careful and may be right. I was
very busy when I examined the case, but I will take the papers,
re-examine, and by four o'clock this afternoon send them by mes
senger to your office. Before the hour indicated, the papers were
in my hands. The President had revoked his order an~l affirmed
the decision of the Secretary. The case is illustrative of the
official relations .between the two great men.

The allegation that Stan ton's death was the result of a self-
inflicted wound is refuted, abundantly, by the letter from Sur
geon-General Barnes, dated April 16, 1879, to the editor of
the Philadelphia Press ; but I may here state that after Stan-
ton's death I often saw his body, and, frequently, was very near
it, and I remained at the house for the main portion of the
night preceding the interment of the remains ; consequently I
was in a position to have noticed self-inflicted injury had there
been any.

To a private soldier I have known him to give audience when
his leisure WHS so pressed as to cause an interview with officers
of high rank to be refused, and yet the warmth of his heart, as
attested by the War Department records, was found going out
at all times, through measures calculated to enhance the com
fort and protect the interests of the members — officers and
men — of the armies of the Union.

His devotion to" the public welfare was such as to find him at
his desk, not only during the day, but at night until near the
dawn — not satisfied to go to his home for needed rest until the
most that could be had been accomplished. And when really
ill during many nights of prolonged labor, a devoted and entreat
ing wife, who had come injrthe hours of morning to accompany

21

him from his office, often failed to break the vigil devoted to
the public interest.

Often, at midnight, I have found myself with important
papers before him for consideration, the labors of the day having
so pressed him as to prevent his necessary action during the
usual hours of duty ; and on more than one occasion did he fall
asleep before I had finished, so great was his fatigue.

The great strain eventually did its work, and at times he had,
from illness, to remain at his house. On one of these occasions
his old-time friend, Governor Brough, of Ohio, telegraphed to me
to know Mr. Stanton's condition. I went to his house, and,
after reading the telegram, he said he would answer it himself,
and attempted to do so ; but his great strength had so far
weakened that he could not wield the pen, and, with tremulous
voice and tearful eyes, he bade me make the necessary reply.

Endowed with greatness of intellect, coupled with super
human energy and industry, he was eminently gifted in dis
patching public affairs. While strictly honest, he was so
blindly devoted to the cause of the Union, and so rigid in the
view, that self-preservation was paramount to all other consid
erations, that before him justice, at times, seemed powerless,
and personal rights passed for trifles.

But in spite of elements of his character which stand not
approved, he stood well forward as to ''that, impersonal life
which is the fullest definition, as well as the truest test, alike
of goodness and greatness," and his great ability and the force
of his will made him eminently successful in the high office of
War Minister when treason and rebellion were abroad. It has
been well said that his training, as an advocate, so strengthened
his devotion to a cause when adopted, that even if he had not
loved the cause of the Union he would have labored for it
intensely because he was retained in it. With his qualifica
tions and the delegation of almost unbounded military authority,
he was the right arm of the Executive of the Nation "in smiting
treason and rebellion and re-establishing the foundation of the
Government."

22

His genius as a ruler and organizer, and ability to reach
grand results with vigor and masterly skill, are found in the
public archives, endurably recorded.

Cameron said of Stan ton in June, 1878 : "He was a great,
big, brave, loyal man ; perhaps too harsh and quick-tempered
in his treatment of those around him, but, nevertheless, a thor
oughly good and well-meaning man. He had terrible respon
sibilities which at times cause him to be exacting almost to the
very verge of injustice, but I am sure that he always intended
to do right, and there is no doubt he was in every way the man
best fitted for the place in the Government which he was called
upon to fill. He was a man ot wonderful strength, not only of
mind but of body, yet even he gave way under the constant,
the never-ending strain which was put, upon all his faculties.
His death was hastened by, if not the direct result of, overwork
in the War Department."

LINCOLN.

It was a frequent thing for the President to visit my office,
thus to obtain direct information. He was particularly inter
ested in the success of the recruitment, and for his own conve
nience he personally tabulated the daily telegraphic reports on
a slip of paper. After he had made the necessary record, he
would roll tiie slip around a short lead pencil and place it in
his vest pocket from which he would take it during the ensuing
visit. If the number of men obtained was satisfactory he would
sit for a brief time conversing brightly ; but if otherwise, the
enlarged furrows of care on his face would indicate the sadness
of his disappointment, and, without a word, he would depart.

These interviews indicated his great simplicity of character;
but, withal, there was ever with him the marked dignity of a
noble manhood.

Soon after the act of July 17, 1862, authorizing persons of
African descent to be received into the service of the United
States, and before the President had decided fully what he
would do under It, but ajj^i date when tho good results that

23

would follow the enactment were obvious to him, he received
an application — it may have, been from a Mr. Black or a Mr.
Brown — to raise a regiment. In his characteristic way he
•endorsed the application: "Referred to the Secretary of War.
This gentleman wishes to engage in the ebony trade.
A. Lincoln."

After the colored troops had won their reputation — when it
was recognized that their colors were guarded with as much
patriotic care as though lalismanic virtues clustered around
them — he said that their employment was one of the greatest
blows dealt to the rebellion, and, in hoping that peace would
«oon be permanent, added : "Then will there be some black
men who can remember that they have helped to this great
consummation." Commencing with Milliken's Bend, June
7th, 18637 General Grant frequently complimented the colored
troops, mucii to the President's gratification.

The President, on one occasion, in defining the franchise, said
that some of the colored people "might be let in" "they

would probably help, ir- some trying time to come, to keep the
jewel of liberty in the family of freedom."

Hallam, when writing of Charlemagne, and the epoch made
by that great Emperor in the history of the world, by advancing
civilization and regenerating Western Europe, used words
which may be applied to Lincoln : His sceptre was as the bow
of Ulysses which could not be drawn by a weaker hand. He
stood alone, like a beacon upon a waste, or a rock in the broad
ocean. Plis deeds have cast a luster around his head, and
testify the greatness that has umbodi-'d itself in his name.

THE CLOSING HOURS.

April 14, 1865, I had, about ten o'clock p. M., returned from
the War Department to my house, and very soon thereafter was
informed by a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln — Dr. Lyman Beecher Todd 7
of Lexington, Kentucky — that the President had been assas
sinated, and the members of his cabinet attacked I at once
hurried to the house of the Secretary of War, and there found

24

the family greatly alarmed and excited ; but the Secretary, just
prior to my arrival, had started for Mr. Seward's residence. I
followed and there learned that he had gone to the scene of the
tragedy on 10th street; on reaching: the latter place I found
him at the house to which the President had been taken irom
Ford's Theatre. I remained there, near the Secretary, and at
his request, during the night.'

About 1.30 P. M., he said that the wound was mortal; that the
President was then dying, and that it was not probable he would
live through the night. He was greatly saddened and referred
to the change of scene from that at the Cabinet meeting, a few
hours before, at which General Grant was present, when the
state of the country and the prospect of a speedy peace were
discussed. He stated that the President during the meeting
was hopeful and very cheerful, and had spoken kindly of General
Lee and others of the Confederacy. He informed me that it
would be necessary to stand prepared to communicate the Pres
ident's death to the Vice-President, and soon thereaiter, handed
me the rough draft of the formal notification from which I pre
pared a fair copy, and held it until after the President's death ;
which was officially announced at 7.55 A. M., April 15, by a
telegram from the Secretary to Major General Dix, as follows :

"Abraham Lincoln died this morning at twenty-two minutes
after 7 o'clock."

The notification to the Vice President was duly signed and
communicated, as recited in a subsequent telegram, as follows:

''Official notice of the death of the late President, Abraham
Lincoln, was given by the Heads of Departments this morning
to Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, upon whom the Constitu
tion devolved the office of President, Mr. Johnson, upon
receiving this notice, appeared before the Honorable Salmon P.
Chase, Chief Justice of the United States, and took the oath of
office as President of the United States, and assumed its duties
and functions."

The death-bed scenes were harrowing in the extreme. Sur
rounding and near the illustrious one, who was insensible from

25

the first, in consequence of his mortal wound, from which his
life's blood was oozing, were the sobbing, grief-stricken wife, all
the members of the Cabinet save Mr. Seward, and others in
civil and military circles. As the sure approach of death was
noticed, the deep sad gloom increased, and, at the solemn
moment, it seemed that it had extended to Heaven to be from
there promulgated back to Earth through the agency of deep
sable clouds. The attendant drops of rain seemed to have been
sent to mingle, sorrowfully, with the tears of the Nation.

Soon after- 8 o'clock the devoted War Minister had ordered'
all to be arranged for the removal of the body to the Executive
Mansion, and then left me, as his representative, until after the
transfer should take place. It was about this time that, after
pressing and smoothing the eyes of the dead President, I placed
coins on them to close them for a last long slumber.

"Softly heroic the life had been all through"; and he who had
loved and served his country so well, was, at the final
instant, sealed for preservation in that repository of abundance-
the love of his countrymen.

To quote again from Bancroft's fitting words:

"Where in the history of nations, had a Chief Magistrate
possessed more sources of consolation and joy than Lincoln ?
His countrymen had shown their love by choosing him to a
second term of service. The raging war that had divided the
country had lulled, and private grief was hushed by the grand
eur of the result. The nation had its new birth of- freedom,
soon to be secured forever by an amendment to the constitution.
His persistent gentleness had conquered for him a kindlier
feeling on the part of the South. His scoffers among the gran
dees of Europe began to do him honor. The laboring classes
everywhere saw in his advancement their own. All peoples
sent him their benedictions. And at this moment of the height
of his fame, to which his humility and modesty added charms,
he fell by the hand of an assassin; and the only triumph awarded
him was the march to the grave. ********
Not in vain has LINCOLN lived, for he has helped to make
this republic an example of Justice, with no caste but the caste

26

led
*

our armies
* * did

of humanity. * * * The heroes who

and ships into battle and fell in the service,
not die in vain; they, and the myriads of nameless martyrs, and
he, the chief martyr, gave up their lives willingly, 'that gov
ernment of the people, by the people, and Tor the people, shall
not perish from the earth.' '

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